Native American heroes are a rare commodity in videogames. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, released a decade ago, is the most prominent example. Now Turok finally has company. The best way to describe Prey is “Doom meets Cherokee mysticism.” And whereas most critics are fawning over this first-person action/horror title, don’t believe the smoke signals. Prey’s characters have promise, but the…
V for Vendetta (Warner Bros.) Illustrator David Lloyd calls this adaptation of the comic he made with writer Alan Moore “very good” — so why did Moore beg to have his name removed? The intentions are noble, sure; name another big-studio blockbuster in which a government manufactures fear to keep its citizens in line (and no, Fahrenheit 9/11 doesn’t…
Bye Bye Birdie Not only will we leave “humming and cheering” and “amazed at these kids and their spirit,” but we’ll probably wind up proclaiming this run at Johnson County’s Theatre in the Park our highest achievement as a civilization. (At least, that’s the word we’re getting from a couple of shmoes with free Yahoo accounts.) We’ll grant that the…
Elissa Armstrong: Objects of Innocence and Experience Lawrence artist Elissa Armstrong takes the lighthearted concept of “sit-arounds” (or “set-arounds,” depending on how rural your accent is) —decorative objects, including porcelain unicorns, free-standing arrangements of dried flowers and Precious Moments figurines — and flips it on its innocent little head. For this show, the Alfred University-educated ceramist (and University of Kansas…
Before we get to the show, Late Night Theatre’s 9 to 5 tribute Come Back to the 9 to 5 Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton, and how it dug its Fuck-Me-Red Press-Ons into my back, here are two observations about the audience. First: The wild crowd on opening weekend was as much down-home Dolly as it was Crossroads hip, with…
W hat’s the difference between a good liar and a good storyteller? The answer, or the lack of an answer, is a mystery at the heart of The Night Listener, a muted psychological thriller adapted from the Armistead Maupin novel. A writer’s elaborate what-if scenario extrapolated from an anecdote, it’s presented as a story within a story, sometimes clunkily. And…
To compare the offerings of former Saturday Night Live collaborators Will Ferrell and writer-director Adam McKay, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and the new Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, to the oeuvres of Adam Sandler or the Farrelly brothers, the closest purveyors of aim-high-shoot-lowbrow shtick in the googolplex, would slight those films — they’re already slight…
R estaurateur Richard Ng might not want tassel-festooned paper lanterns in his new Bo Lings (see review), but for those who can’t eat take-out Triple Delight or orange beef without them, the lanterns — and just about anything else — are on sale at the Chinatown Food Market (202 Grand). It has moved across the street, north of the City…
T here aren’t many restaurants in Kansas City where you can tip your duck and eat it, too. But at the new northern outpost of Bo Lings — the fifth restaurant in the continually expanding restaurant empire owned by Richard and Theresa Ng — there’s roast duck on the menu and a living, breathing Duck working as a waiter…
As one forward-thinking dance music night departs, a new one comes in its footsteps — and at the same venue. On August 4, you can say goodbye to Fourmation (pictured) at the Hangout, which was quite possibly the first ever drum-‘n’-bass weekend residency in KC’s history. Beat lovers rest easy: The small band of locals trying to bring you new…
“It’s like a refugee camp in here,” joked our new friend Jo about Asian Night at Club Kandi. If by refugee camp you mean roller-skating-rink atmosphere in the West Bottoms, then we totally agree. We’re sure the Darfurians would, too. Contrary to popular belief, Asian Night — and we had no idea what that entailed — did not garner free…
With its members branching out from Lawrence and Kansas City to Chicago and New York, the once-regular treat that was a one-off local Minus Story show is no more. Singer and songwriter Jordan Geiger now sends his demos to his out-of-area bandmates to elaborate on — a method appropriate to the band’s layered pop. This may be your last chance…
If you’ve had it up to here with all the hindsight romanticizing of long-defunct band At The Drive-In, you’re probably sick of all the hoopla surrounding the Mars Volta, too. Cedric Whatever-His-Hyphenated-Name-of-the-Moment-Is once said that the thought of continuing to write songs within the limiting confines of At The Drive-In’s straight-ahead punk format nauseated him. Well, he probably wouldn’t have…
Though at times subdued, the combination of A Particularly Vicious Rumor’s Miss O on piano and Kid Twist on drums is anything but minimal. Miss O’s voice hints at Regina Spektor or Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls, but it also incorporates the dark jazz influences of the band’s 9th Ward New Orleans neighborhood. With help from Kid Twist’s technical…
Ann and Nancy Wilson have come a long way since Dreamboat Annie came out on Mushroom Records in 1976. The pair’s band has undergone numerous lineup changes, the sisters have lost and gained weight (notably, Nancy added 200 pounds of Cameron Crowe), and there has been a Robin Zander collaboration. A better man than I am once said there are…
The Secret Machines The Black Angels Just what is a secret machine, and why is it so hush-hush? It could be anything, really. (Our guess is it’s the equipment that keeps all of Sen. Ted Stevens’ Internets moving through that series of tubes he’s always talking about.) But in the case of the Dallas-born, New York-bred three-piece the Secret Machines,…
AVANT/EXPERIMENTAL Malachy Papers When your preferred style of music reached its peak during the Pendergast era, it might seem hard to bring anything new to the table. But for the ever-evolving Malachy Papers, a band that’s been churning out new tunes since the late ’90s, KC jazz is anything but a memory. By mixing the best of the genre’s founders…
Thursday night, August 3, for a paltry five bucks, you have a chance to go out and sample what has to be one of the best local music scenes in the country. For the past year and a half, it’s been my job to report on this scene, and I’ve never felt short on cool shit to write about. We…
This is in reply to Jim Skinner’s letter concerning the display of the American flag. You may not fly the flag upside down as a sign of protest. That position is formally reserved as a sign of distress. One who sees the flag in such a position should immediately alert the police, fire department, FBI, Coast Guard, Army, etc., depending…
A couple of years ago, you had to be somebody to gain entrance to Irene’s, a members-only drinking hole at 411 Sixth Street in Strawberry Hill. To get buzzed through the door, you had to be on friendly terms with the original owners, Irene Macek and her husband, Fat Matt. You also had to be white. “It was a very…
As avid urban hunters, we here at the Pitch were glad to learn that the city’s thinking about opening up two parks to deer hunting. This winter, bow hunters might be able to get permission to climb trees in Tiffany Springs Park and Riverfront Park to pick off a few of the overpopulated deer. To learn more, we called the…
An independent investigation prompted by a Pitch article has determined that the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation could have conducted a more thorough background review before it invested $500,000 in state money in Kozoru, an Overland Park company. The Pitch reported that Kozoru founder John Flowers lied about his education when he applied for KTEC funding in 2004 (“A Million Little…
Dear Gabachos: Bienvenidos to the world’s foremost authority on America’s favorite beaners! The Mexican can answer any and every question on his race, from why Mexicans stick the Virgin of Guadalupe everywhere to our obsession with dwarves and transvestites. Awright, cabrones: laugh and comprende! Dear Mexican: The last two movies I attended were rated R. Sitting around me were…
Like all good Americans, the Strip is pissed off about Iraq. And it respects anyone energetic enough to throw down an honest-to-God protest, as opposed to boring vigils. Unfortunately, though, this red-blooded raconteur could have predicted what happened to a few fun-lovin’ gals a couple of weeks ago. Kansas City’s chapter of Code Pink dedicates itself to friendly activism in…
